MAG Monday week 6 – “In war there is no prize for the runner-up”

The year is 2025. The Third World War has come and gone; Governments have fallen and economies have collapsed. Beneath all this a secret power struggle rages – welcome to the Shadow War.

Three private military companies vie for power, recruiting whoever offers themselves up to the machine. Each soldier that gets enlisted to the ranks threatens to tip the scales of power.

This is the end. After weeks of fighting, the war has been lost. With units scattered about the entire country, efforts are being made to recall them all as part of a mass evacuation, before a cluster of missiles are launched to cleanse the area.

But what of Team Attitude? Will they make it out in time?

DolphGB had heard over the radio that the evacuation had been started. Cursing his inability to fly, he started to make his way to the rendezvous point. A few miles out he heard a yell coming from a point below him. Looking down he saw a uniformed man being surrounded by a group of hooded figures. Activating his Matrix powers he jumped down to help….

Folken24 was royally screwed. The nomads had caught up with him and were set to make him Folken fondue. Out of the blue a cry of “there is no spoon!” was heard reverberating around the valley, and a cross between Neo and Batman jumped in to the rescue. Nomads suitably spanked, the pair continued onwards when the sound of rocket fire interrupted their stride…

Brodiesan was running low on ammo against the latest imaginary onslaught. During a rocket reload he noticed two uniformed figures running towards him. After briefly explaining his situation to them, he received two very hard slaps round the face and a rather painful clip round the ear. Senses restored, the three headed out towards the evacuation point…

Stefhutch20 really wasn’t enjoying being in prison. Who knew a couple of lousy house fires would bother anyone? He was about to lose hope when a trio of uniformed officers ran by. Whistling them over he quickly explained how he had been wrongfully accused of a petty crime, and some sneaky bar cutting saw the foursome run off into the distance…

Empty. The rendezvous point was empty. In the distance a hundred little black dots appeared, with smoke trails swirling and dancing in their wake. Team Attitude stands defiant as the missiles drop towards their target. The world flashes white, and then there is nothing.

Welcome to the final week of MAG Monday. As such, this week will be all about Team Attitude’s thoughts on their time with MAG, in time for the second part of our review. (Read Part One)

DolphGB

“My first few weeks with MAG have been an absolute joy. It is rare that a game manages to capture my attention for very long. As a games journalist, we have to switch from title to title, playing them through as quickly as possible in order to write up the most authoritative review we can.

So when a game comes along that I actually want to play in between other titles, you know it is special. I haven’t felt like this about a multiplayer game since Warhawk, and I played that to death.

The progression in MAG is almost faultless, although some late-comers might struggle until they reach level eight or so. The game is worth persevering with until you get comfortable with the strategy, tactics and action, because once you do – and on reaching level fifteen in particular – it really sucks you in.

Of all the titles available on the PS3, and this includes that billion dollar seller everyone likes to talk about, MAG is my FPS of choice.”

Stefhutch20

“What with Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII, and the many other high-profile games released over the last few weeks, I admittedly haven’t been able to put as much time into MAG as I would have liked. However, as any gamer will tell you, it takes months to truly get the most out of an online shooter, and MAG can only get better from here.

For two main reasons, MAG is already turning into a much more rewarding experience than when it was released at the end of January. Most obviously, the post-release support from Zipper Interactive has been fantastic, with not only the obligatory bug fixes, but further improvements too, many of which have been requested by players.

Secondly, now that it has been out for nearly two months, games are a lot more focused, with sighted tactics prevailing over blind chaos. Squad leaders command effectively, and squad members dutifully complete orders.

The accomplishment of MAG cannot be understated. Before this game, the most players ever seen in a competitive online game was 64; Zipper didn’t just double this number, they quadrupled it. To me, this scale of battle is unrivalled by any other game, and I for one cannot wait to see what Zipper have in store for the future of this game.”

Folken24

“Congratulations to Zipper for actually pulling this off. When the game was first announced I was sceptical that battles comprising of 256 couldn’t be anything but chaos.

It takes a while to get into MAG – indeed my first few games involved taking no more than two steps forward before being sniped.

But then it all clicks together, and what you find is an immense game with a very solid shooting mechanic.

I do have a few issues though – sometimes snipers ruin the game in my opinion. Yes it’s meant to emulate war, but it is also a game, and constantly being sniped is no fun at all.

Overall though it has been a fantastic few weeks, and I can’t wait to see where Zipper takes this in terms of DLC.”

Thank you for reading MAG Monday over the past few weeks, don’t forget to check out the second part of PS3 Attitude’s definitive review soon. Dismissed.